Raiders fullback Josh Dugan is a rugby league thoroughbred ready for the big time

League Central: Raiders v Rabbitohs4:00

The Bunnies learnt what finals football is all about against the Storm and now have to overcome an in-form Raiders outfit. This is shaping as a classic and Matt Johns and David Riccio tell you who?ll win and why.

That's how the players talk and think in rugby league these days. The young ones, anyway. If a fan, member of the public or the media or a commentator has something negative to offer on one of our prodigious footballers, it isn't considered objective criticism.

It is hate. Haters be hating.

But then there are the cowards who shamelessly throw venom at players via social media, namely this big ugly phenomenon called Twitter.

Long before Robbie Farah was going on the offensive after a vile tweet about his late mother Sonia was posted on Sunday night, Josh Dugan was rumbling with the haters on cyberspace, taking them down one by one.

"I get in trouble for speaking my mind a little bit, but if someone has something bad to say it has to be warranted," the Raiders fullback laughs. "You get some people on Twitter who want to bite. So I give it to them. I bite back, too. But most of the time I just retweet it and let everyone else do it for me."

Dugan copped the same garbage from the same coward that harassed Farah on Sunday night, but he doesn't seem to have much rage in him when he speaks to The Daily Telegraph in Canberra ahead of tonight's elimination semi-final against South Sydney at ANZ Stadium.

The Raiders might've done the U-turn on their season in round 22 against the Broncos, but Dugan's came much earlier in May and, ironically, it was against Rabbitohs - and he wasn't playing.

Dugan and centre Blake Ferguson were stood down for that match because they had breached an alcohol ban enforced by coach David Furner.

Ferguson had turned up to training still under the influence, while Dugan was punished for drinking while recovering from an abdominal injury. Furner sacked them for the game to set an example about the type of culture he wanted at his club.

Then the Rabbitohs tore the Raiders to shreds on the right-side of the field with big Dave Taylor and Greg Inglis running wild.

So was that a turning point for Dugan?

"Yeah definitely," he says. "It woke me up to the off-field stuff. I got more professional about it. I've had to grow up pretty quick. I debuted when I was 18 and I've always been in the spotlight since then. But that comes with the job. I've matured a lot this year."

Josh DuganSource:The Daily Telegraph

It is only now, in the last few months almost, that you sense that Dugan is starting to realise he is rugby league's version of a thoroughbred.

He is blessed with raw ability, and that is why the Roosters came so close to signing him last year until third-party agreements ensured he stayed in lime green. Accordingly, Dugan is starting to treat his body like he is a two-year-old being prepared by Gai Waterhouse.

Shoulder and ankle injuries have cursed him for the past two seasons, restricting him to 30 matches, but he's learning to take better care of his rig.

"Having the same injuries year in and year out, I did get disheartened," he says.

"I'd sit at home and question why was this happening again? I've played 30 games in the last two years. That's disappointing. I've been unlucky again this year with a few injuries I couldn't help.

"I want to stay on the field, that's the main thing for me. Doing all the little things right, I think I've matured as a player doing that. It's taken those few injuries for me to realise what you need to be doing to be full strength. I've put on four kilos so I don't feel too many bumps and bruises like I did before. This is the best I've felt since I debuted."

That is an ominous sign for the rest of the competition, and even for NSW fullback Brett Stewart, whose No.1 jumper Dugan wants.

"I want it back," Dugan offers, bluntly.

If his form warrants it next season, the great social barometer of Twitter will let him know. Not that long ago, the haters were barking that it was time for Furner to be cast aside. It has been strongly speculated for some time that Dugan does not get on with the coach, and wanted him gone.

He says it isn't so.

"When we were going bad, the reaction was mixed," he says. "There were some people who were behind the coach, and then there were others saying we were going rubbish and the coach needs to go. Everyone's entitled to their opinion. Nobody sees the hard work behind closed doors. For Dave, he's worked so hard to get us where we are today."

Should the Raiders upset the Rabbitohs tonight, and Dugan turns on his phone minutes after entering the rooms as young players tend to do these days, he says there will be about 50 messages of support.

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